Chin J Plant Ecol ›› 2008, Vol. 32 ›› Issue (2): 251-261.DOI: 10.3773/j.issn.1005-264x.2008.02.003

• Research Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

NATURAL SECONDARY POPLAR-BIRCH FOREST IN CHANGBAI MOUNTAIN: SPECIES COMPOSITION AND COMMUNITY STRUCTURE

HAO Zhan-Qing1, ZHANG Jian1,2,*(), LI Bu-Hang1,2, YE Ji1,2, WANG Xu-Gao1, YAO Xiao-Lin1,2   

  1. 1Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China
    2Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
  • Received:2007-12-18 Accepted:2008-01-02 Online:2008-12-18 Published:2008-03-30
  • Contact: ZHANG Jian

Abstract:

Aims Natural secondary poplar-birch forest is one of main secondary forests in Changbai Mountain, which is formed by the restoration after clear-cutting or fire. And it is an important stage in the secondary succession of broad-leaved Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis) mixed forest. A 5 hm2 natural secondary poplar-birch forest plot was established in Changbai Mountain Natural Reserve in 2005 in order to gain insights into the processes driving regeneration and succession of the forest and its climax community—broad-leaved Korean pine mixed forest. This paper aims to give some basic information on the forest, including species composition and community structure.
Methods In the plot, all free-standing trees at least 1 cm in diameter at breast height (DBH, 1.3 m above ground) were mapped, tagged, and identified to species, and their geographic coordinates were recorded following a standard field protocol. A total survey station was used to determine the elevations of edge points.
Important findings There are 16 565 genotype individuals (20 101 individuals with branch), belonging to 44 species, 28 genera, and 16 families. Floristic characteristics of the community are very prominent. At the generic levels, North temperate areal-type is the main part of genus areal-types. The statistics of species abundance, basal area, mean DBH, and important value showed that pioneer species Betula platyphylla and Populus davidiana are obviously dominant species. However, the regeneration of the two species is very poor by the analysis of size-class distributions, which indicated that they will quit the stage along with the succession of the community. Some tree species, such as Korean pine and Tilia amurensis, which are main species in broad-leaved Korean pine mixed forest, account for a large proportion in the understory layer. Therefore, they will replace the pioneer species and dominate the overstory layer. Spatial distribution patterns of species were analyzed. For pioneer species and those species that are main species in broad-leaved Korean pine mixed forest, there is no obviously clumped pattern captured. For the midstory and understory species, there are obviously clumped patterns of many species by the observation. There is no obvious correlation between the clumped patterns and the topography.

Key words: community structure, biodiversity, natural secondary forest, forest dynamics plot (FDP), Changbai Mountain